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Going, Going, Gone; Ruth All Star Ball Sells for Big $

The first home run ball hit in an All Star game lived up to the pre-auction hype in Pittsburgh.

Hunt Auctions’ special All Star Fan Fest event drew hard-core collectors, deep-pocketed fans and lots of interested bystanders to Pittsburgh hours before the 77th Major League All Star Game.

The auction was heavy on Pittsburgh Pirates-related memorabilia all day, but the highlight of the auction was the well-publicized first home run ball in All Star history. The Babe Ruth-autographed slice of sports history, together with ticket stub and documentation, went for a staggering $700,000 to an anonymous bidder. The 15% buyer’s premium pushed the final price to $805,000.

That wasn’t the only Ruth piece to draw attention though. A 1921 bat used by Ruth to hit his 59th home run of the season, accompanied by a Ruth signed provenance letter, sold for $420,000.

Beyond the two big ticket items, there were several other pieces that drew
interest from well-financed bidders. A 1954 Ted Williams home jersey became a relative bargain, selling for $31,000, significantly less than the $40-60,000 pre-sale estimate.

A 1927 Yankees signed ball went for $33,000, while a 1933 American League All Star autographed ball closed at $18,000. Modern memorabilia fared fairly well with one of the highlights a 1973 Hank Aaron road jersey which was landed for a bid of $13,000.

Pittsburgh-themed pieces were especially popular. The first hit/home run ball hit by Sean Casey when PNC Park opened in 2001 went for an astonishing $16,000 against a pre-sale estimate of $7500-10,000). Others included a bat used by Roberto Clemente in the 1969 All Star game ($22,000 vs a $15-20,000 estimate), a Bill Mazeroski game-used glove and jersey ($16,000 each), a 1971 Willie Stargell jersey ($13,000)
and a pristine Clemente single-signed ball ($10,000 vs $5,000-7,500).

Baseball cards did exceptionally well in the Hunt Auction with most equalling or exceeding the pre-sale estimates. A 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle graded SGC 84 sold for $22,000. A 1953 Topps set, partially graded but considered VG-EX/NM overall went for $35,000 with an initial projection of $20,000 less. The consignor of a 1954 Topps set had to be smiling when the hammer fell on a VG/EX-NM set at $23,000. Featuring 20 graded cards, it sold for significantly more than the $4500-6500 projection. A 1953 Bowman color set was also a hot ticket, going for $14,000–nearly twice the top end of the estimate. Two 1956 Topps sets both exceeded expectations, with the better set going for $8250.

A 1932 US Carmel Babe Ruth sold for $8500 carrying an SGC 84 tag. A group of 31 Goudey Heads Up cards graded G-EX/NM sold for $3000 and an SGC 92 1954 Topps Ernie Banks fetched $5000.

The complete list of items sold at the Hunt Auctions All Star Fan Fest event can be found by clicking here.

About Rich Mueller

Rich is the editor and founder of Sports Collectors Daily. A broadcaster and writer for more than 30 years and a collector for even longer than that, he's usually typing something somewhere. Type him back at [email protected].